Glass-rolling machine.



Patented 0st. 24, |899.

' 4 Sheets-Sheet l,

.o N s f o ,WN E gw w V l5 NW n T. J. MGCUY. "GLASS BULLING MAGHINE.

(Application filed Hu. 10, 1899.)

Patented 00t- 24, |899.

T. J. MUCUY. GLASS RULLING MACHlNE.

( pplicatiod led Har. 10, 1899.)

4 Shets-Sheet 2,

(No Model.)

Chienne/I3 S THE Naam: PETERS co4. PH

No. 635,340. Patented 0 t T. .1'. Mccnv. c' 24 |899' GLASS ROLLING MACHINE.

(Application led Har. 10, 1899.)

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

No. 635,340. Patented 01st.` 24, |899.

T. .1. Mccnv. GLASS RULLINE MACHINE.

(Appliation filed Enr. 10, 1899.)

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

lllll amen/tez.'

Witwen/wo I l JM' u Fries.

Aram

GLASS-ROLLING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 635,340, dated October 24, 1899. Application led March 10, 1899. Serial No. 708,496. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. MCCOY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kane, in the county of McKean and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Glass-Rolling Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Myinvention relates to certain new and useful improvements in glass-rolling machines, and has for its object to produce such a machine which will be adapted to receive the molten glass in pans, roll the same into separate sheets on said pans, convey the sheets thus formed for a sufficient length of time to permit of their cooling, discharging the sheets onto a suitable receptacle at one end of the machine,lowering the empty pans,and returning them to the upper end of the machi-ne, where they will be elevated to repeat the cycle of operation.

With these objects-in view my invention consists of an elongated double track formed of a number of sections supported by suitable standards havingaserics of rectangular pans traveling therein, the pans of the upper track being propelled by a suitable motor driving gear-wheels which mesh with racks on the upper sides of the pans, while an endless chain,

having blocks arranged thereon at suitable distances, is propelled beneath the pans of the lower track, so that its blocks engage suitable lugs on the under side of the pans to convey them in an opposite direction to the pans of the upper track. At either end of the frame is a vertically-movable track suitably operated, preferably by hydraulic power, by which the pans of the upper track when reaching the end thereof are lowered into position on the lower track and those reaching the end of their movement on the lower track are elevated into their position on the upper track, by which means the pans are caused to keep in continuous motion, traveling from one end of the machine to the'other. A suitable roller, provided witha cutting-ring at each end, is journaled in the pair of standards next to those supporting themotor. and is propelled by having cog-wl1eels on its shaft 'meshing l with the racks of the pans. This roller presses the glass into smooth Hat sheets of the thickness desired, which are separated from each other by means of beveled knives extending across the upper rear edges of the pans,which on coming in contact with the said roller cut the surplusage from the contents of the pans, and each being beveled along its rear edge provides an inclined undercut on the forward Aedge of the nextsucceeding plate to be engaged by prongs located at the lower end of the machinefor the purpose of removing the sheet of glass from its pan.

f My invention further consists in the novel ldetails of construction and combination of parts to be clearly described in the following specification and fully set forth in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which like characters of reference indicate similar parts throughout, Figure lis a side elevation of the upper end of my machine. Fig. 1a is a similar view of the lower end thereof. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the upper end of the machine. Fig. 2a is a similar view of the lower end thereof. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the Aline 3X of Fig. l. Fig.` 4 is a transverse section on the line 4X of Fig.` l. Fig. 5 is a transverse section on the line 5 'of Fig. 1,wi th parts sectioned to show the arrangement for counterbalancing the roller. Fig. 6 is an end elevation of one of the vvertically-reciprocating tracks. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a pan. Fig. 8 is a perspective View of a knifeblade, and Fig. 9 is a perspective View of a guide-rod and one of the movable tracks.

In the drawings, l represents a pair of main standards connected by an arch 2, supporting an electric motor 3, whose armature shaft t is journaled in said standards and has a gear-wheel 5 at one end meshing with a gear-Wheel 6, loosely mounted on shaft '7, which is also journaled in the standards. Gear-wheels 8 are mounted on the shaft 7 between the standards 1, and a friction-clutch 9 is splined on said shaft to be capable of end movement without independent rotary movement that it mayengage and disengage a friction-plate l0, carried by the gearwheel 6, and a forked lever ll is pivoted at l2 to a standard, with its yoke sliding in an annular groove of tho clutch 9 and its. other end con- IOO nected by a rod 13 to a hand-lever 14, pivoted at the other side of the machine. A number of sections of double tracks 15 and 16, one located above the other, are supported at their ends by standards 17 and the main standards 1, and these tracks are L-shaped in cross-section, with a covering 18 projecting over the opening of the end sections of the upper track, for a purpose hereinafter described.

Rectangular pans 19, provided with upwardly-extending flanges 2O near their side edges, are adapted to travel in these tracks and are provided with rack-teeth 2l, just outside of the flanges 20, leaving a margin 22 to accommodate the covering 1S of the upper track. Each pan is also provided with a beveled-edge knife-blade 23, adjustably secured along its rear edge by means of screws 24, threaded in the pan and slidable in vertical countersunk slots 25 of the knife-blade, and a small lug 26 depends from the middle of the rear edge of the pan.

Ashaft 27 is journaled in the standards 1 and carries gear-wheels 28, which mesh with the rack-bars 21 of the pans and with the gear-wheels 29 of the armature-shaft 4, and a sprocket-wheel 30 is carried on one end of the shaft 27. A counter-shaft 31 is journaled in one of the standards 1 and in a bracket 32, located midway between the standards 1, and has loosely mounted on its outer end a sprocket-wheel 33, having a sprocket-chain 34, connecting it with the sprocket-wheel-30, and a friction-clutch 35 is splined to the counter-shaft 31,which is adapted to be forced into and out of contact with the frictional face of the sprocket-wheel 33 by means of the forked lever 36, pivoted to the standard 1. Along a central linebetween the pairs of standards are located a number of brackets 37, having sprocket-wheels 38 journaled therein, the first being situated at about the distance of the length of one pan in advance of the standards 1 and the last stationed directly between the last pair of standards, and a sprocket-chain 3f), having small rectangular blocks 40 on its outer surface, travels over these sprocket-wheels and is driven by the sprocket-wheel 30.

At the upper end of the machine is a pair of tracks 4l about equal in length to the length of a pan, having in their ends vertical grooves 42, sliding on beads 43 of the vertical L-shaped guide-rods 44, the inner of which are secured to the standards between the tracks 15 and 16, with extensions of their beads formed on the ends of these tracks, while the outer guiderods 44 are provided with suitable bases or pedestals bolted to the Hoor of the building, and these tracks are connected by means of links 45 to the cranks 46 of a pair of parallel shafts 47. The shafts 47 are suitably journaled in boxes 4S and have on their ends cranks 49, which are connected together by a rod 50, so that they move in unison, and a pitnian 51 connects this rod 50 with some suitable operating means,(not shown,) preferably a hydraulic piston, with its regulating-valve located at the standard 1 near the levers 14 and 36. At the lower end of the machine is also located a pair of tracks, with their operating mechanism similar in all respects to that just described.

rThe pair of standards next to the standards 1 are provided with enlarged hollow-heads, forming housings 52, in which journal-boxes 53 may be vertically adjusted by means of the crank-screws 54, threaded in the upper part of said housings, and a compression-roll 55, having removable beveled-edge cutting-disks 56 on its ends, is secured on a shaft 57, which is journaled in the boxes 53 and carries gearwheels 5S to mesh with the rack-bars of the pans. Rods 59 pass through centralopenings of these standards, being connected at their upper ends to the journal-boxes 53, and are pivoted at their lower ends to weighted levers 60, fulcrumed'in suitable foundations beneath the floor of the building.

At the rear of the movable tracks of the lower end of the machine I secure a number of prongs 6l at their rear ends to a suitable foundation 62, with their forward ends tapering to a sharp point and extending toward the upper track 15, and between these prongs, near their rear ends, are journaled conducting-rolls 63, covered with asbestos or other like material and driven from any suitable source by sprocket-chains 64.

In operation the motor3 is started by means of a switch, (not shown,) but preferably located near the operating-levers, which sets the friction-disks 10 and 33 in motion and rcvolves the gears 28 to force the pan in the upper track directly therebeneath along the track toward the lower end of the machine, the covering or guards 18 serving to prevent the tilting of the pan on its first engagement with the track. It will be seen that each succeeding pan forces those before it farther down the track, setting the com pression-roller into operation in the meantime, and the molten glass is run into the pans as they leave the standards 1 and is compressed to the desired thickness by the compression-roll 55, which at the same time lbevels the side edges of the glass by reason of the beveled cutting-disks 56, which cut the glass from the ianges 20. When the knife-blade 28 passes beneath the compression-roller, it barely comes in contact with the said roller, thus cutting from the pan the surplus glass and forcing it over into the next pan, where it is rolled down with the contents of this pan to form a homogeneous plate of smooth soft glass. In traveling from the roller to the loweringtracks the glass sufficiently chills to become perfectly hard, and because of the bevel on the knife-blade of the preceding pan the forward edge of each plate of glass is provided with an inclined undercut or bevel, against which the prongs 6l strike and are guided between the plate and pan, lifting the plate as lOO IIO

ing tables to the tem perin g-ovens preparatory to being ground and polished. The pan in the meantime has reached the lowering-tracks 41', and the operator controlling the lowering l means for these tracks performs this operation and then throws the lever 36 to set the chain 39 in motion, when the lug 26 on coming in contact with one of the blocks 40 of the sprocket-chain 39 will be carried by said chain, sliding the pan along the lower track 16 to the elevating-tracks at the upper end of the machine, where on passingaround the end sprocket-wheel 3S the blocks 40 disengage from the lugs 26, leaving the pan on the elevating-tracks 4l. The elevating-track is now raised so that the pan thereon is in alinement with the tracks 15, and the teeth of the rackbars 2l mesh with the gear-wheels 8, when the said gear-wheels are set in operation by the lever 14 through the friction-clutch 9 to force this pan along the track 15 until the teeth of its-rack-bars 2l eugagewith the gearwheels 2S to repeat the cycle operation just described.

The movable tracks, the shaft 7, and the endless chain 39 are caused to rest between their periods of operation by means of their operating-levers that their initial movement on engagement with the pans may not be too sudden and jerky, and as the movable tracks are lowered before the pans are completely on the tracks 15 in one instance and off the same in the other, the guards or covering 18 prevent the tilting of the pans while thus partially suspended.

It is obvious that the thickness of the product of my machine may be varied by changing the elevation of the knife-blades 23 on the pans, alsocutting-disks on roller, and making a corresponding change in the distance between the pan and the roller 55, so that the knife-blades 23 continue to barely touch the same in passing, whichis accomplished by threading the crank-screws 54 up or down, the Weighted lever acting to counterbalance the weight of the roller 55 to make this adjustment possible, the crank-shafts 47 of each pair of elevating-tracks being connected together by the rod 50, and the cranks 46 and links 45 being of the same size, respectively, throughout insures the said tracks maintaining an equal height and remaining in parallelism at all times, while the grooves 42 of the tracks` 41 in sliding over the beads 43 of the guide-rods 44 prevents any longitudinal displacement of said tracks. It is also obvious that numerous changes maybe made in the arrangement and construction of parts without departing from the spirit and scope ofmy invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, iSv-- 1. In a machine of the character described, a track, pans slidable thereon, a roller journaled abovesaid track, a return-track, means for propelling the pans on said tracks, and movable tracks for transferring the pans from one track to another, substantially as described.

2. In a machine of the character described, a track, pans slidable thereon, a return-track, means for propelling the pans on said tracks, vertically-movable tracks located at the ends of the aforementioned tracks, crank-shafts suitably jo'urnaled to operate simultaneously, and lin ks connecting the cranks of said shafts to the movable tracks, substantially as described.

3. Ina machine of the character described, a track, pans provided with rack-bars slidable thereon, a motor secured above the track, a gear-wheel driven thereby meshing with the rack-bars of the pans, a roller journaled above the trackiand receiving its motion fromthe pans, and means for returning the pans to the upper end of the machine, substantially as described.

4. In a machine of the character described, a track, pans provided with rack-bars slidable thereon, a drive-shaft having gear-wheels to mesh with the rack-bars located at one end of the machine and a secondary drive-shaft also provided with gear-wheels to mesh with the vrack-bars of the pans, said secondary drive-shaft being located beyond the end of the track and adapted to feed the pans to the drive-shaft, substantially as described.

5. In a machine of the-character described, a track, pans provided with rack-bars slidable thereon, a drive-shaft extending across the track, gear-wheels driven thereby meshing with the rack-bars of the pans, a shaft suitably journaled'beyond the ends of the tracks having gear-'wheels adapted to mesh with the rack-bars of the pans, a gear-wheel loosely mounted on said shaft and meshing With a gear-wheel of the drive-shaft, a clutch adapted to connect the loosely-mounted gear-Wheel with its shaft, and means for operating the clutch, substantially as described.

6. In a machine of the character described, a track, pans slidable thereon, means for propelling the pans along the track, a returntrack, means for shifting the pans from one track'to the other, sprocket-wheels j ournaled between the tracks, an endless chain passing over said sprocket-wheels, means on the chain for engaging the pans to force them along the return-track, and means for driving the chain, substantially as described.

7. In a machine of the character described,

a track, pans slidable thereon, areturn-track, and means for shifting the pans from one track to the other consisting of vertical guiderods, horizontal movable tracks provided with slots in their ends sliding over beads on the IOO IIO'

guide-rods and the ends of the stationary tracks, crankshafts suitably connected together and to an operating means, and links connecting the cranks of said shafts to the movable tracks, substantially as described.

8. In a machine of the character described, a track, pans slidable thereon, prongs projeeting toward said pans and located at the point where the pans leave the track, and conducting rollers journaied between the prongs and driven by anysuitable meaus,sub stantially as described.

9. In a device of the character described, a pan provided with upwardly projecting flanges, rack-bars extending along the edges of the pan outside of the iianges and leaving margins at the extreme edges of the pan, a beveled knife-blade having elongated countersuuk vertical slots therein, screws passing through said slots and threaded in the rear end of the pan, substantially as described.

10. In a machine of the character described, a track, pans provided with rack-bars slidable therein, beveled-edge knife-blades adjustably secured to the rear ends of the pans, a drive-shaft extending across the track and having gear-wheels meshing with the rackbars of the pans, asecondary drive-shaft journaled beyond the end of the track and having gear-wheels adapted to mesh with the rack-bars of the pans, a loose gear wheel mounted on the secondary drive-shaft and adapted to be revolved by the drive-shaft, a clutch adapted to connect the loosely-mounted gear-wheel with the secondary drive-shaft,

means for operating the clutch, an adjustable eounterbalanced roller extending across the track and having gear-wheels meshing with the rack-bars of the pans, a number of tapering prongs extending toward the pans at the point Where they leave the track and adapted to separate the pan from its contents, suitably-driven conducting-rolls journaled between the prongs, a return-track, sprocketwheels journaled between the tracks, an endless chain traveling over said sprocket-wheels and provided with blocks on its outer surface to engage suitable lugs on the bottom of the pans, a counter-shaft on which one of the sprocket wheels is mounted, a sprocket- Wheel loosely mounted on the counter-shaft, a sprocketchain connecting it with a sprocketwheel on the drive-shaft, a clutch adapted to connect the loosely-mounted sprocket-Wheel with the secondary shaft, means for operating the clutch, and means for shifting the pans from one track to the other, comprising Vertical guide-rods,horizontal movable tracks having grooves in their ends slidable on beads of the guide-rods and the ends of the stationary tracks, crank-shafts suitably connected together and to an operating means, and links connecting the cranks of said crank-shafts to themovable tracks,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS J. MCCOY. Vitnesses:

N. D. HoWELLs, T. H. RYAN. 

